I'll Be Here
by Lex Complex
Summary: Now I feel like Hachiko waiting for his master. But I'm not Hachiko; I shouldn't have to wait forever. And you're not my master, either, so you should come back. You hear me?


HEY JOSH, where are you?

Pretty weird coming from me, huh? Three years can do that to a guy. A lot of weirder things have happened, but you'd know all about that, wouldn't you?

Where we're at, and where we'll be spending most of our lives, I guess, is Shibuya. Shibuya three years after the mutant frogs, mind scanning, and tacky red pins. Shibuya after the walking stuffed animals, skateboarding Reapers, and time-bending cameras. Shibuya after life, death, and then life again.

We're at Sunshine's in the Shibukyu District, past where we formed a pact at Hachiko, just so you know. I prefer a good bowl of ramen over a burger any day, but it was Beat's turn to pick a place, and I know you know Beat. And Shiki... Well, Shiki's doing what she does best—acting like she's three. She still drags Piggy around like it's perfectly normal, and, right now, she's fighting with Beat over magic markers and a piece of paper. At least she picks fights with kids in the same mental age group.

"Man, who'd ever wear something that green?" he complains after a long slurp from his soda. "Yellow's the way to go, yo." And he starts coloring in Shiki's latest design.

"Now look what you did!" You should probably know that Shiki looks stupid trying to look angry when she's obviously not. "It looks like a banana with legs!"

"Me? That was all you, man." And Beat's not any different. Then again, he _always_ looks that way.

The two idiots start laughing their heads off.

See this? It's a perfectly normal day for us, as far as normal days go. We had so much to catch up on when we first met up, and, pretty soon, it felt like we'd known each other all our lives. But you know what sucks? Call me Captain Sappy and paint me pink, but I was kinda hoping you'd be there, too. I guess you can't, huh? What with your position and everything. Still, even CEO's of big-ass companies can take one day off for friends, right? Why can't you?

Funny how I can sound so proud saying _friends_ now. Feels like only yesterday I would've rather been pork-chopped by a possessed Piggy than admit I had friends. Sometimes, it's still hard to believe that I spent three weeks of my life dead (remind me to thank you for that), and sometimes it feels like those three weeks aren't over. When I close my eyes, it almost feels I'm back in Shibuya. _Your_ Shibuya.

If I learned anything from my time in the UG, it's that nothing in this world is a secret when you have dead people tuning in to your minds like some noontime radio program. And while I don't know if there still are, or will ever be, Reaper Games after that last one, and while the thought of people breaking and entering into my mind isn't exactly cherry on top of a sundae, I just tell myself that somewhere, somehow, at least _you_ can hear my thoughts.

Yoshiya Kiryu, private dick extraordinaire—I just know you'd get a kick out of mental voyeurism.

I don't really know why I'm so hung up about you. I haven't forgiven you—I don't think I really can—but I owe you a lot, and, prissy jackass you may be, there are still lots of things I want to hear from you. That, and I kinda want to punch you. Just once for revenge's sake. It won't even hurt, I promise. So till I can slug you for real, I'll settle for these thoughts. No matter how stupid or embarrassing they are.

Damn, that sounds so wrong. It's not like me to think about these kinds of things. If you're imprinting stupid stuff in my head, cut it out.

* * *

STRANGE LOOKS from my friends aside (and I know you had something to do with that), the day went by without us noticing, and pretty soon the sun's already going down.

Today's ending like most days. Shiki's exclusively-for-shopping tote bags fill up pretty quickly with cloth and thread in every color of the rainbow and then some. Eri drops by to help her carry the stuff back to her place, where they'll most likely go Frankenstein on the unsuspecting fabric. Beat's been a good brother ever since we came back and "bounces" over to Rhyme's school every day to pick her up. His sister doesn't really need extra lessons during the weekend, but she takes them anyway.

Me? I'm hanging at my favorite place in the city. It's one of the few places in Shibuya that haven't changed, and it's one of the few places that still link me to the Reaper Games. _Your_ Reaper Games. CAT's mural hasn't lost its magic one bit, and every time I look at it, it kinda feels like I'm fifteen again. Of course, being fifteen again means a few minutes later, you and Pi Face would come waltzing in to plant a bullet in me. Then everything after that would be a little taste of heaven and a whole lotta hell.

I only wish that would actually happen. Minus Pi Face and dying, of course.

I come here everyday, you know. Stupid, right? Not like coming here means I'd actually run into you someday. Now I feel like Hachiko waiting for his master. But I'm not Hachiko; I shouldn't have to wait forever. And you're not my master, either, so you _should_ come back. You hear me?

Hurry up and hear this already, dammit. It's not easy to keep talking in your head. There's about a million other people talking at the same time, and I don't know if I can keep trying to sound louder without getting mental laryngitis.

It shouldn't be too hard to come here, right? You're Joshua—you do what you damn like. You come and go as you please. You knew my name before I even told you. So...

Find me, alright? I'll be here.


End file.
